In the Box - Battle for Skull Pass

One of the most popular Games Workshop products for getting started are the dual-army boxes. One such box is the ‘Battle for Skull Pass’ which provides us with a well balanced 500 point Dwarven and Goblin army.

Here’s the roster of available troops:

Dwarf Army
• 12 x Warriors, 10 x Thunderers, 8 x Miners
• Thane Godri Thunderbrand, Dragon Slayer Borri Graniteskin
• Dwarf Cannon (and crew), Kings Wall, Grudge Pony

Goblin Army
• 20 x Spearmen, 20 x Archers, 10 x Spider Riders
• Big Boss Dagskar Earscrapper, Nazbad Wartfinger, Slugdrool the Troll
• The Idol of Mork

The armies come on four large sprues holding 15 to 20 miniatures per sprue. There is a fifth sprue of bases for the Arachnid models. Some miniatures such as the Spider Riders will need assembly.

In addition to the miniatures the box also has two range rulers, a blast and flame template and dice. There’s also two books included, a ‘Read this First’ quick guide and the full Warhammer Rulebook.

The introduction book explains each phase of the game clearly and provides a set of ‘training exercises’ to practice each phase. In these exercises you set up your armies and play that phase, a really good way of getting used to what can often seem quite complex rules.

WHG Team

Alkemy video 'advertorial'

As a trial of how to use Animoto we put together this small advertorial, not bad for 30 seconds!

Avatars of War - now on the WHG eStore

We’ve just added the (almost) full range of Avatars of War miniatures on the WHG eStore.

If you’re not aware of this range then look into them for sure. The models are marketed by AoW as ‘mastercrafted’ and the quality and detail certainly hold this to be true. There’s almost as much pleasure in collecting and displaying these unpainted to enjoy the craftsmanship alone. Painted these miniatures take on a life of their own.

Have a look at the Human Lord of Chaos or the Beastman Hero for good examples of the depth of detail that’s typical and the quality of sculpting and production. The models supplied are "lead free white metal" not some cheap plastic and AoW own the casting facilities so they control the quality. This means buying earlier models will still be a safe bet quality wise.


(http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo311/__jarhead/g01.jpg)

One problem with ‘cheaper’ production methods from some of the larger, more well known manufacturers, is the older moulds wear out. When you buy these models after they’ve been on the market a while the quality can drop. Models can have excess flash or halves can even be offset in some cases. You can be assured that whether buying the “AoW01 Dwarf Berserker Hero” or the “AoW28 Orc Warlord on Warhound” they’re not going to let your collection down.

AoW have stated they want to produce a miniature that encompasses the best of the classic fantasy figures and they’ve done a great job on all of them. The Dark Elf Queen and Light Elf Mage are an Elvan fans dream, the Orc Hero and Goblin King really do exude their respective manic and dangerous natures.

They’re not the cheapest minis out there but they're worth every penny for the collector or painter. Don’t forget there’s nothing stopping you having an AoW mini in your Warhammer army or similar, unless you’re in a competition with very restrictive rules. You can still play other games systems ‘substituting’ the models everyone else uses with these great looking AoW characters.

Arena Deathmatch Game
Each of the minitures is also part of the AoW Arena Deathmatch game that sees the characters battel against each other in the arena. On the WHG eStore you'll see we've added some details about the skills and abilities of each character that they use in the Arena.

Check out the Arena Deathmatch info on the AoW wbesite.

Alkemy - Jan News and Rumour

As we await the release of Wave 6 and all the goodness it brings we're getting word of some other exciting updates and releases coming from Kraken for the Alkemy range during 2010.

Exact details are scant but here's what the WHG infiltration team overheard:

"To celebrate Alkemy’s second anniversary we have 4 Limited Edition packs of resin Alkemy figures!"

Through the crack in the open door we heard that each pack will contain 4 miniatures chosen from Alkemy’s current range PLUS one figure from their next wave of releases as a nice preview for all our Alkemy fans! These highly detailed resin cast figures will be perfect for painting. A nice preview for Alkemy’s fans !

There will be 4 different packs, one for each faction.

Caution !! These highly detailed products will not be produced in
large quantities. Make sure to pre-order yours before February 15th
to get what you need!!



While wandering around the Kraken Rumour Mill pretending to be a grain carrier our newest spy learned more interesting things.
....
May will be huge...enormous...Colossus ! The first size 3 figure for Alkemy will arrive on gaming tables: the Avalonian Colossus!! More than 2 times the size of the biggest humans, the Colossus will be a masterpiece for gamer and painter alike! This detailed figure will be cast in high quality resin and will be packaged in a box of its own.

Release Date : May
...
In June, the Khaliman armies shall join the Avalonians with their own size 3 figure: the Djinn! This figure will be cast in the same high quality resin as the Colossus and also be packaged in a box of its own. This detailed figure will be a masterpiece for players and painters, either on the gaming tables or showcased in painting contests.

Release Date : June

Our spies in the Khaliman homelands sketched this image of a hazy figure just before they beat a hasty escape.


....

Wargames & Fantasy Battles as an Aid to Education - 2

Building the Army
When constructing armies to play the games with there is usually a points value applied to each character in the army. Here then we see some simple addition being used, straight forward enough but the player also has to consider what characters are selected, they need to think about the skills that character has and how they combine with the rest of the army, what army they may fight and how the opposing armies skills may counter the skills of their own army.

In order to do the above they’ll need to refer to various sources of information, such as Army Books and Codices. These will contain a lot of information that isn’t needed and so the player needs to assess the structure and type of information presented, comprehend it’s meaning in relation to the whole and to other armies and the gaming system, then filter needed information and use it effectively.

It must be remembered that these books are reference books that while having structure are not sequential narratives that lead the reader from start to end. The player needs to apply reading and comprehension against highly abstract and creative concepts that may be being encountered for the first time. Add to this the need to understand the game rules in addition to Army Book details and relate the two.

In just setting up an army to play with, before a single die has even been rolled, we’re already seeing the player apply basic math skills, employing reading and comprehension skills in order to make sense of multiple abstract sources of information. They’re constantly applying numerical and tactical / strategic planning and analysis as they select the structure of their army. All the while exercising their creative imagination when learning about and considering the characters and world they inhabit.

In the next part...
Playing the Games, Models and Terrain

Wargames & Fantasy Battles as an Aid to Education

A hugely important aspect for Winter Hill Games, both as a Club and a Business, is promoting the educational benefits of our hobby. As you may know we have developed a number of “Club and Schools Learning Packs” for working with Club members and schools to develop various skills through Wargaming and Fantasy Battles.

In the following series of posts we'd like to share with you why we believe our hobby is a tool with which to practice and develop the learned skills acquired through formal education or develop the inherent abilities of the individual.

Please note that while we do get professional assistance in developing the learning packs no one at Winter Hill Games is from an educational background. We all went to school, heck some made it to tertiary education and most still read... but you know what we mean. ;} Therefore we encourage discussion on our views expressed here. We’ll share more about how we develop our Club and Schools Learning Packs in future posts, for now let’s share our ‘mindset’ with you.

Inherent Abilities and Learned Skills
When playing tabletop Wargames and Fantasy Battles the main things to do are to get immersed in the game, the characters, the situation the battle is at, take a break from the routine and stresses of life, enjoy spending time with like minded friends in a safe and relaxed environment and most importantly just have fun.

The great thing is while doing all of that the player can effortlessly do so much more too;

• Rapidly apply mental arithmetic techniques to perform various calculations to help keep track of define the current state of play and the effects of events during play.

• They use their wider math skills to perform numerical analysis either on the fly or against a collection of data for post game analysis.

• The player can perform situational and strategic analysis that leads to structured and accurate decision making based on both the rules of the game and the context of game play.

• They can practice language and communication skills when they discuss their understanding of the current state of the game play, resolve misunderstandings or negotiate issues.

• They exercise their creative, abstract, imaginative skills when engaging with the game board and characters used for the game as representations of real places, characters and events.

• The player will constantly apply reading and comprehension skills understanding the game lore, relationships between characters in the various armies, their background, etc.

All of this takes place fairly unnoticed for the most part and yet each is a significant skill that if practiced and developed will benefit the player greatly outside of the context of the hobby. The skills are highly transferrable to other hobbies, activities and of course the workplace.

In the next part...
How do these skills get applied in practice? By way of example let’s look at some key things the player does and how the above skills come into play.

Britney Spears does Miniature Wargaming!

Shock headline, who would have thought but yes, it's true Britney Spears is an avid fan of miniature Wargaming. Apparently she picked up the hobby after tapping into the Twitter stream of Lady Gaga, who we all know was the inspiration for the Avatars of War (AoW) model of the Dark Elf Queen. We're just waiting for AoW to confess Angelina Jolie begged them to model the Dark Elf Sorceress on her semi naked form, Beowolf stylee.

Obviously, what you just read is a greater work of fiction than the team developing the Mornea world of Alkemy or Games Workshop have put into Warhammer. The fact is, dream about it as much as you will, on the whole the chicks don't dig Wargaming. A lamentable fact discussed over at BoLS (http://snipurl.com/u10p2) recently.

I'll tell you why:

• Wargaming is generally a nerd fest of guys with few social skills, questionable fashion sense and suspect hygiene.
• The Hobby / Clubs offer the average woman very little.

Now is it all a bad thing being a socially inept nerd with bad fashion sense? (Questionable hygiene is never a good thing). Well no because you can throw on a stonewash pair of jeans, some fashionable sneakers or shoes if you must and a WHG T-Shirt and you're looking as good as the next guy. You might want to get the fauxhawk to really kick it.

As for social skills, Wargamers are generally not the types who get pissed of a Friday and scream bloody murder at their 'loved ones' or translate the verbal assualt into something more physical. Hey and once you're married being too good with the ladies isn't advised so don't stress it.

So if we can accept that the average guy Wargaming fanboi isn't the nerd we might think, maybe being a regular, smart thinking guy who's great to hang out with, what's happening? Where are the chicks?

Here's a question - How many of us ever take the time to INTRODUCE FEMALES into the Wargaming hobby in all it's forms? I wonder if we're guilty of thinking 'their not interested, everybody knows that...'. I know this is the case sometimes and it's bad bad thinking. It almost feels like sexist steroetyping...

To introduce your female friends or loved ones to the hobby would be an awesome thing to do. Isn't helping expand someones experience of the world a good thing? Offering to show a way to enjoy a safe, stimulating hobby with like minded individuals? For those introducing partners we all know relationships survive mainly based on shared views, interestes, goals (no, not differences!).

Introducing females to Wargaming is a Good thing all round, with a fat ass capital G.

But... what is going to interest them? Strategy? Statistics and numbers? Lore? Painting and conversions? Terrain making? Club organisation? Some of these together?

The answer on one level is who knows! Again, you can't say with any real meaning (as was said by some who replied on BoLS) "Girls like romance, their's no romance in Wargaming" and thereby assume Wargames would need romance for females to play. Absolute rubbish.

I think we need to look at MMORPGs and see what attracts these females to video games, games like Everquest and World of Warcraft. A researcher called Nick Yee spent many years looking into this question and produced some fascinating results.

Females in MMORPGs were likely to take more supportive roles, collaborate and be more altruistic, they liked the adventure and quests sure, but more often than not they like the idea the Guild, the Group would all be working together, as a social group with shared goals.

Geddit? How can we show females that Wargaming isn't about individuals but about Clubs, teams, socials groups, individuals who care about each other and enjoy seeing their mates learn new skills and get more enjoyment out of the hobby over time.

That's what I think will be more important to female players. Sure, they'll chase game wins, big armies and want to be the best painter in the Club, they're human after all. But the 'purpose' and 'focus' will be different. We need to allow for and embrace these difference with the same sense of equality and respect that we do for our male club mates. We need to stop making females think (know) we're pointing at them and reassure them they're equals who will be embraced (ho ho ho).

Wargaming Clubs are about teams and socials groups, made up of individuals who care about each other and enjoy seeing their mates learn new skills and get more enjoyment out of the hobby over time.

It's up to Club managers and membrs to make sure that applies equally to males and females so our hobby can grow in respect and esteem. Just as it should. Come on Britney, you can play with my Dwarf army and I'll play the Gobbos, but I'm not going to let you win just because you're female...